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would you let your doc put your kid on Ritalin without a diagnoses?

my son has been having a series of symptoms and i don't think he needs this i think he needs to see a neurologist but his doc wont give me a referral he says to try Ritalin first i don't want to without diagnoses what should i do?

NO! I wouldn't put my son on them EVEN when I did have a diagnosis. He was diagnosed with provisional ADHD and ODD - I refused the medications - he's 19 now and he's never had any problems not being on the meds.
If your doctor won't cooperate, find another doctor. Hell, take him to a clinic and tell the clinic doctor that you want a referral to a neurologist. A referral is a referral - doesn't matter who gives it.

HELL NO!!... I wouldn't even with a diagnosis. People are way too quick to medicate children for things when all they need are alternative treatments. My 4 year old is borderline ADHD (hasn't been fully diagnosed) and I was quick to refuse ANY sort of meds when the talk of ADHD even first came up. So he now sees a child psychologist twice a week and i've done elimination dieting with him (Which is the largest problem with hyperactive children btw) and so far barely 2 weeks in we have seen a fairly decent improvement in his ability to focus, listen and behave.

Not at this point, no... Take your child to a psychiatrist who specializes in children. Have him officially evaluated and then go from there. I would also go to an allergist and rule out food related allergies (wheat, corn, etc). Personally, I do better with my ADHD on a low carb diet because of allergies.

There really isn't a good blanket answer for this. My daughter (also ADHD) tried meds in 2nd grade and it did wonders!!! Her grades improved so much! However, 3rd grade, we found that she didn't need the meds. She had an excellent school year without them. She's in 4th grade now and don't know yet if she will need meds or not. I believe there are a lot of factors that go into the whole ADHD issue. What works well one moment doesn't necessarily work well the next. Keep an open mind, be flexible and research.

I say NO NO NO get yourslef a new doctor you NEVER want to put meds in your body or your children w/o a proper diagnosis , i remember my step dad got put on some parkinsons meds for what they thought was parkinsons but was not and he started tlaking to my dead mother and seeing emues (big birds) in the kitchen and ofering drinks to people that were not even there i ended up having to call the ambulance to come get him and hold him till the meds wore off and he didnt remember alot of what he did but what he did remember he truley belived to have happened and i was there the whole time O.O again ... NO NO NO